Lock bolt retaining means



April 27, 1943. H. D. KAUFMAN 2,317,617

LOCK BOLT RETAINING MEANS Filed Jan. 6, 1941 \T\ i v N mam;

Patented Apr. 27, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LOCK BOLT RETAINKNG MEANS Henry D. Kaufman, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application January 6, 1941, Serial No. 373,332

2 Claims.

This invention has relation to door locks and refers particularly to the type of locks in which the bolt is spring projected. Such locks are commonly used on doors of various types and the bolt is manually retracted, against the tension of its spring, when it is desired to open the door.

A new type of door, which is becoming very popular particularly in connection with garages for dwelling houses, is hung on pivots secured to the walls of the building, and it is swung upward on these pivots to assume a substantially horizontal position at the top of and within the door opening. A look of the type above referred to is usually placed at one inside, lower corner of the door panel, and the bolt of the lock is by its spring projected to take a position behind the door jamb when the door is closed.

In order to open such door, it becomes necessary manually to retract the bolt which, when again released upon opening the door, instantly is projected by its spring. Upon subsequent closing of the door, it is found that the projecting bolt prevents such closing and that it must be manually retracted before the door reaches its closing position, an operation which is frequently forgotten.

In view of the foregoing, it is the object of the present invention to provide means automatically engaging the bolt of the lock the moment it is manually retracted and the opening movement of the door commenced for maintaining the bolt retracted until the door again is closed.

To this end, the invention resides in the combinations hereinafter fully described and particularly defined in the appended claims. A drawing is hereto annexed in which preferred forms of the invention are illustrated and in which:

Fig. 1 is an inside elevational view of an overhead swinging door of the conventional type, hung within the opening of a garage or the like and fitted with the device of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary end elevation of the door panel in the position it assumes when the door is closed and with the device of the invention mounted thereon;

Fig. 3 is a substantially corresponding view indicating the change which takes place in the device of the invention the moment the door commences its opening movement;

Fig. 4 illustrates the device of the invention as it appears when removed from its position on the door panel; and

Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate modifications the importance of which will be explained presently.

In the form illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4 of the drawing, the numeral l designates the panel of an overhead swinging door, which is shown fitted with the conventional brackets 2, 3, by means of which the panel is pivotally hung on the walls of the building it serves. The lock of the invention is shown mounted at the lower, right hand corner of the panel and it comprises a casing I0, within which a bolt H is seated to slide axially. A spring 12 urges this bolt into the projected position illustrated in Fig. 1.

Because the lock is mounted on the inner surface of the door and the operation of the door mostly is effected from the outside, it becomes necessary to provide operating means whichv are operable from both sides of the door panel. To this end, a handle i5 is centrally placed on the outer surface of the panel and this handle is fitted with a stem which extends through and is rotatably seated in the panel. An arm 16 is secured to the inner end of this stem and a cord or cable extends from this arm over a pulley l8 to the inner end of the bolt II. The handle I5 is turned in the door panel to retract the bolt and is then given an upward and outward pull to swing the door into open position,

The lock casing I0 is made with a face plate Ill, on which a member 2i! is hung to slide. For convenience and clearness of illustration, the member 20 i shown made with a slot 20 ar-- ranged in parallel relation to the door surface, and. studs 2!, 22 of the face plate are seated in this slot. The member 20 is furthermore shown perforated at its lower end to form a passage 20 for the bolt ll when the door is in closed position, as indicated in Fig. 2. But the moment the door panel commences to swing outwardly and upwardly, it is found that the member drops until stopped by the stud 2i, thereby to check forward projection of the bolt.

The member 20 remains in this position until the bottom of the panel again approaches the ground or floor surface, in closing the door, when the member first comes to rest against this surface. The continued closing movement of the panal imparts relative sliding movement to the two parts to cause the member to resume its initial position, again reopening the passage for the bolt.

From the foregoing description, it is seen that means is provided controlling the movement of a spring projected lock bolt, and that the action r of this control means is controlled by the surface against which it comes to rest upon closing the door. The member 20 should be relatively heavy in order to drop quickly when the door commences to open. Such weighted member might in some cases be found disadvantageous, and it is possible to provide other means for advancing the member when raised from the ground. Such means is, in Fig. 4, shown to comprise a spring I5, hung between a bent lip 20 of the member and the casing ll] of the lock.

While it may be found commercially advantageous to combine the bolt retaining member with the lock, as shown, it should be clear to anyone that the member may be mounted to slide on the edge of the door panel, substantially as indicated at 25 in Fig. 5, and so form an independent device adapted for use with any lock having a spring projected bolt.

Other modifications may be incorporated, within the scope of the appended claims. It is, for example, not necessary to mount the bolt retaining member for longitudinal movement relative to the door panel, but the member may be pivotally hung, substantially as indicated in Fig. 6, where the member 30 is shown fastened to the face plat of the casing 3| by means of a screw 32, on which it is fitted to oscillate. In all other respects, the device may remain as above outlined. Nor do I wish to limit the use of the invention to an overhead swinging door, but reserve the right to adapt the device for use in connection with any closure fitted with a spring projected bolt.

It is above stated that the door and the keeper, in closing, strike the ground or the fioor. I do not wish, however, to be limited to these terms but will state that the parts may come to a stop against some other part of the door framing, as would be the case where my invention is applied to an ordinary horizontally swinging door.

The device of the invention is illustrated as an attachment mountable on the inner face of the door panel but it may, of course, be mortized into the edge of the door, in which case it would be preferable to cause the bolt to enter a socket of the jamb. This construction would also be preferable in connection with an ordinary horizontally swinging door.

Some sort of lock should, of course, be provided to control the operation of the door handle [5 but, as such lock forms no part of the present invention and is usually applied to all centrally controlled overhead swinging doors, it is not illustrated in the drawing.

I claim:

1. In combination with an overhead swinging door standing vertically on its bottom edge on the ground in closed position, a bolt mechanism comprising, a casing having a plate attached to one side edge of the door adjacent said bottom edge and extending along the inner face of the door parallel with said bottom edge, a bolt seated in said casing, means urging projection of said bolt beyond said side edge, and a fiat member seated against said casing plate for vertical movement thereon and normally by gravity held downwardly projected therefrom beyond the bottom edge of the door, said member having a perforation for alinement with said bolt, the member being positioned to strike the ground when the door is closed, thereby to cause the member to rise and to bring said perforation into registration with the said bolt to open a passage therefor.

2. In combination with an overhead swinging door having its bottom edge movable in closing to abut the fioor surface, a bolt mounted on the inner face of the door at the bottom corner thereof parallel with said bottom edge, means urging projection of said bolt beyond the adjacent side edge of the door, and a flat member seated against and movable on the said side edge of the door to project beyond said bottom edge, said member having a passage for said bolt, the member being positioned to strike said floor surface in closing the door thereby to raise said member to bring its passage into registration with the said bolt.

HENRY D. KAUFMAN. 

